Upholstery construction



Patented June 15, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UPHOLSTERY CONSTRUCTION Application June 19,

9 Claims.

manufacture, and yet practical and efficient to- 5 a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements,

and arrangement of parts which will be exemplifled in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of the various possible illustrative embodiments of this invention,

Fig. l is a top plan view of a chair provided with upholstery construction embodying the invention; Fig. 2,is a cross-sectional, elevational view of the chair shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 3-4 of Fig. 2, with parts broken away; and

Fig. 4 is a partial elevational view of a seat illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, II! designates an article of furniture, such as a chair, provided with upholstery construction embody- 0 ing the invention.

The chair II] has legs II supporting a frame I2 having a front wall I3, a rear wall It and side walls I5. Attached to the underside of said front and rear walls I3 and I4 of the frame are 45 a plurality of straps I6, preferably substantially parallel to one another. Said straps I6 may be made of flat elongated sheet metal stock. The

front ends I! of said straps contact and arescrewed or nailed directly to the under edge of 50 front wall I3 of the frame. The rear ends I8 thereof contact and are screwed or nailed to the under edge of rear wall It of said frame. Ad- Jacent the rear end of each strap I6, is a. transversely corrugated or longitudinally sinuous 55 shaped portion 20. Each strap I6 has adjacent 1935, Serial No. 27,294

the front end II thereof, an upstanding, longitudinally extending, apertured ear 23, preferably stamped from the body thereof and bent upwardly. Each strap, furthermore, has a plurality of spaced longitudinal slots I6a for the purpose hereinafter appearing.

Attached to the upper end of the front wall I3 of the frame, are a' plurality of angular brackets 25 vertically aligned with straps I6, each having a horizontal arm 26 contacting the upper edge of said wall, and a vertical arm 26a contacting the inner surface of said wall. Nails, screws or the like fastening devices 21 passing through apertures in said arms, serve to attach the brackets 25 to said front wall. Joining the arms 26, 26a of each bracket, is a loop or ear 28. Interconnecting the ear 23 of each strap to the corresponding bracket 25 is a coil tension spring 29 having a hook at one end engaging said ear, and a hook at the other end engaging the loop 28 of said bracket;

Fixed to the upper edge of rear wall I4 are a plurality of brackets 32, similar to brackets and likewise aligned with straps ea. ets 32 have arms 33 contacting and name. or screwed to the upper edge of rear wall It, and arms 34 contacting and fastened to the inner surface of said rear wall. The arms 38, 34 of each bracket 32 are joined by a loop or ear 35.

Received on the corrugated portion 20 of each strap I6 is link 31 having a bottom portion 38 engaging within a channel of said corrugated portion, and a portion 39 having a central upwardly extending humped offset 4|]. Interconnecting each link 3? with its corresponding bracket 32 is a. coil tension spring 42 having a hook at the upper end received in ear .35 of said bracket, and a hook at the lower end engaging the offset of said link. The links 3! may be shifted to engage any part of the corrugated portions 20 of straps I6.

The springs 29 and Q2 resiliently support the straps I6. The members It are of resilient sheet metal and by reason of the resilient portions 20, serve to resiliently support the foundation springs 44 mounted on said members.

The straps I6 may flex due to the arched shape thereof, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, and

5 ually from bottom to top. Extending from the lowermost convolution I of each spring is a horizontal diametric end portion 46 extending 1 longitudinally of and contacting strap i8, and having a downwardly offset looped portion bent at right angles thereto and received in one of the slots l6a. 'I'he springs 44 thus rest on the straps and are held against shifting thereon. The upper ends of said springs are attached by the tie cords I! to brackets 28, 32 and to the side walls ll of the frame.

For the purpose of illustration, the drawing shows the invention embodied in a chair seat, but it will be understood that the invention may be incorporated into the usual frame of a chair or sofa back as well as the seat thereof.

In Fig. 4, there is illustrated, a spring edge seat construction including the frame I2 and straps lib similar to straps i8 and similarly attached to the frame except that the cars 23: are

25 omitted. Mounted on said straps are foundation springs a of greater diameter at the ends and gradually decreasing in diameter toward the middle. The springs a adjacent the front wall of the frame are close to said wall, the coil springs 29 at the front of the frame being omitted, and said straps being resiliently supported by the rear springs 42' only.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 45 as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In upholstery construction, a frame, a plurality of strap members attached at the ends thereof to' opposite walls of said frame, each strap having an integral transversely corrugated 60 portion, foundation springs mounted on said strap members, and coil tension springs attached to the frame and to said strap members, inwardly of the ends of the latter.

2. In upholstery construction, a frame, having front, rear and side walls, a plurality of substantially parallel strap members attached to the front and rear walls, each member having, adjacent the rear ends thereof, an integral transversely corrugated portion, a connecting member on each corrugated portion, coil tension springs each having one end engaging a connecting member and the other endconnected to the rear wall of said frame, and foundation springs mounted on each strap member.

3. In upholstery construction, a frame, having front, 'rear and side walls, a plurality of substantially parallel strap members attached to the front and rear walls, each member having, adjacent the rear end thereof, an integral transversely corrugated portion. a connecting member on each corrugated portion, coil tension springs each having one end engaging a connecting member and the other end-connected to the rear wall of said frame, foundation springs mounted on each strap member, said strap members having apertured upturned ears adjacent the front ends thereof, and coil tension springs interconnecting said ears with the front wall of said frame.

4. In upholstery construction, a frame, a plurality of strap members attached at the ends thereof to opposite walls of said frame, each strap having an integral transversely corrugated portion, foundation springs mounted on said strap members, each of said strap members being provided with upstanding fastening members and a coil tension spring'interconnecting said fastening member with a wall of said frame.

5. In upholstery construction, a frame having a front wall and a rear wall, a plurality of strap members attached at the opposite ends thereof to said front and rear walls, said straps being made of fiat, elongated strips of sheet metal, and each having a longitudinally sinuous portion adjacent one end and a plurality of spaced slots, inverted conical foundation springs on said straps, said springs having at the bottom. thereof, portions projecting into said slots, and a resilient connection between said sinuous portion of each strap and said rear wall.

6. In upholstery construction, a frame, a plurality of strap members attached at the ends thereof to opposite walls of said frame, said straps being made of flat, elongated strips of sheet metal, each having a longitudinally sinuous portion adjacent one end and a plurality of spaced slots, inverted conical foundation springs on said straps, said springs having at the bottom thereof, portions projecting into said slots, and a coil tension spring interconnecting the sinuous portion of each strap with one wall of said frame.

7. In upholstery construction, a frame, a plurality of strap members attached at the ends thereto to opposite walls of. said frame, said straps being made of flat, elongated strips of sheet metal, each having a longitudinally sinuous portion adjacent one-end and a plurality of spaced slots, inverted conical foundation springs on said straps, said springs having. at the bottom thereof, portions projecting into said slots, a coil tension spring interconnectingthe sinuous portion of each strap with one wall of said frame,

spaced from said wall, whereby an upward yielding pull is exerted on said strap member to aid in supporting said foundation springs.

9. In upholstery construction, a frame having a pair of upstanding opposite walls, a flexible strap member interconnecting portions of said walls, said strap member being greater in length between the points of attachment thereof with said walls than the straight line distance between said points of attachment, foundation springs supported'by said strap member, and a pair of coil tension springs interconnecting spaced intermediate portions of said strap member with said walls, the points of attachment of said springs to. said walls being above the points of attachment of theadjacent ends of said strap member to said walls respectively. I

ALBERT M. BANK. 

